Lobbying remarks reach a peak in NH 2nd CD race

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The two women vying for the Democratic nomination in the 2nd congressional district have been doing some name-calling at each other. And they're using the same slur: lobbyist.

Ann McLane Kuster, who calls herself a "public policy advocate," stopped lobbying in August 2009 after nearly 20 years. Among her last clients were Dartmouth College — her alma mater — Fidelity Investments, Bedford Ambulatory Surgical Center, New Hampshire Independent Schools, and Merck Vaccine Division.

Her challenger in the Sept. 14 primary, Katrina Swett, has assailed Kuster's lobbying career, suggesting she has not always acted in the public's best interests.

Yet Swett's own name appears on a 1997 federal lobbying registration form for a consulting firm headed by her husband, Dick Swett, former 2nd District Congressman in the 1990s. Swett maintains she's never lobbied for any bill.

"It doesn't sound like she did a lot of lobbying, but it's sort of a great way to muddle your own message against the opponent," political analyst Dean Spiliotes said of Swett.

Both candidates have tried to keep their own names away from the "lobbyist" label now prominent in the campaign.

"I think that especially right now, since the scandals of Jack Abramoff and many others, the term 'lobbyist' is a very negative thing," said James Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University. Abramoff, a former top GOP lobbyist, served about 3 1/2 years for fraud, corruption and conspiracy.

Thurber noted that one of the first things President Barack Obama did in office was to impose more restrictions on lobbyists, including a ban on gifts by them to anyone serving in the administration.

"We're a pluralist democracy, we have First Amendment rights, we're allowed to organize and represent interests — and that's what lobbying is," Thurber said. "It's just the money associated with it makes it highly controversial sometimes."

Kuster was part of a team in 2000 that launched the New Hampshire Medication Bridge Program, which helps low-income residents and seniors get free medicine. At the time she was registered with the state to lobby for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which funded a coordinator for the program.

A few years earlier, she had lobbied against a House bill that would have required sellers of discounted pharmaceutical drugs to make such offers available to everyone — an example Swett says shows Kuster has worked against public's interest. The bill ultimately died in the House.

In 2006, representing Merck, Kuster lobbied against a bill that made doctor's prescription-writing habits confidential. The bill became law and survived a U.S. Supreme Court challenge from companies that analyze and sell that information.

When asked what her own view would be on that law and on the bill regarding pharmaceutical discount sales, Kuster said: "I'm looking forward to what's happening in Congress, at the federal level. I'm going to vote in the interests of my constituents, and if you have a specific bill or there's a piece of legislation under consideration in Congress, we can take a look at it and tell you what my position would be on that."

Kuster said she found it disappointing that Swett said she wasn't a lobbyist.

"I've never been a lobbyist in Washington, D.C., and that's been very clear," Kuster said. "Katrina, on the other hand, has repeatedly denied being a lobbyist, when in fact there's no gray area. She was a registered Washington lobbyist."

Meagan Coffman, Swett's campaign manager, said, "There's not a single bill that Katrina has ever lobbied for or against. Her name being put on a form doesn't change the fact that she's never lobbied for or against anything and it doesn't change the fact that Annie has lobbied for 20 years" and been paid for it.

Coffman said an employee at Swett firm office listed every employee's name on the form "in an abundance of caution."

"She honestly didn't even know about it," Coffman said.

With the regard to the series of news releases that the Swett campaign has released on Kuster's lobbying, Coffman said, "from our perspective this has never been about lobbyists ... it's about specific bills she was involved in."

Political scientists say it's rare for a lobbyist to be elected to Congress. According to the Washington news publication Roll Call, there were 11 candidates running for House or Senate seats in 2008 who were lobbyists or executives of associations. All lost; at least three are running again this year.

Both Kuster and Swett are longtime Democratic activists who come from political families. Both campaigns are well funded.

Political analysts say Kuster, who was co-chair of New Hampshire Women for Obama, has been drawing support from more progressive Democrats who are relatively new to the 2nd district.

"If she can combine the new, kind of grassroots support in that district plus the fundraising, that can be a potent combination," and Swett's attacks might not matter, said Dante Scala, chairman of the Political Science Department at the University of New Hampshire.

Swett who won the Democratic nomination for the district in 2002 but lost the election to Republican incumbent Charlie Bass, tends to have the support of more moderate Democrats. Spiliotes called the disclosure of her name on the lobbyist form a "tactical blunder," but said it's not clear how that will play out in the primary.

The winner will face one of four Republicans running for the open seat: Bass, Jennifer Horn, Bob Giuda and Wesley Sonner. Democrat incumbent Paul Hodes is running for the U.S. Senate.

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